Are they share a common origin or any similarities between the texts are coincidental?

The primary explanation I've always heard for the fall of Rome is invasion by barbarian tribes... what were the other factors involved?

Is it correct to say that the Second Sino-Japanese War made up the Chinese theatre in WWII? I am just slightly confused because it has a separate name/"war." Thank you.

Is it something to do with the educational curriculum, or do historians not regard him as a "true" King of England?

I'm currently reading a book called Empire by Default by Ivan Musicant, which is primarily about the Spanish-American war. The book features a long section about the Cuban Revolution and the battles it was made up of. According to page 64 of the book, in 1896, as the rebels pushed further into Spanish territory, "In Alquízar, all arms and supplies were given up without a fight. At Ceiba de agua, the rebels were welcomed by the town band. (...) Town after town fell, and at every one the rebels increased their ranks."

The book mentions elsewhere that many of the soldiers within the rebel army were previously slaves, and on page 57, in a section about General Gómez's economic warfare strategy, says the following:

"Gómez ordered his economic warfare strategy into practice; Cuba would simply stop functioning, and if need be, would starve. Prohibited by rebel decree were the transport of leather, timber, wood, tobacco, coffee, wax, honey, and cattle into any town occupied by a Spanish garrison, no matter its size. 'The sugar plantations will stop their labors,' read his edict. 'Sugar cannot be allowed, because to work means peace, and in Cuba we must not permit working.' For the rebels, a positive side effect brought thousands of now unemployed workers into their ranks."

I wasn't surprised by the idea that slaves would join a revolution that freed them - I remember the same happened in the Civil War in the United States, but I was surprised to learn that, although the Cuban revolutionary army instituted policies that negatively affected the civilian population, they were actually more likely to join the war effort. Is it the historical norm for military-age men who are politically and economically disenfranchised to join the military of whichever government they are occupied by, even if they have only recently come under its occupation? If so, what measures are typically taken by militaries in order to ensure loyalty? Are there any examples of military failures caused by disloyal soldiers recruited this way?

The texts of Taoism, Confuciansim, Buddhism, Second Temple Judaism, Hinduism, Plato and Zoroastrianism are what I'm thinking of specifically.

For several of these there existed an oral or ritual tradition that predates the written form. The Hindu Vedas, Iranian polytheism or the pre-Babylonian Exile religion of Israel. But during the 1st millennium BCE (or late 2nd millennium for Hinduism) these traditions seem to all develop a written cannon that survives to today.

Texts from Bronze Age periods seem to have become forgotten unless they were lucky enough to be among the 20th century archeological rediscoveries, whereas these texts from the Iron Ages appear to have been constantly studied.

What enabled this? Greater number of scribes? Better writing materials? More stable preservation techniques? Cultural attitudes? More stable societies?

Thank you in advance for any replies.

We all know how they viewed the last tsar Nicholas the Second and his family but what about other tsar's? Notable Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, Catherine the Great and Alexander the First?

When I see old photos it seems like they’re mostly just doing it to document people’s faces as they are, they’re almost never smiling. When did people normalize having to convey “happiness” rather than just showing the person? Did it just happen when photography became cheaper/more accessible??

Also, I was curious is this is just such a little thing that it basically didn't matter, or if there was a reason behind it.

I recall hearing once that the Thais originated in Southern China and migrated over a period of time? If this is true, who inhabited it before the Thais?

For many European nations, Napoleon was not simply a military threat, but an ideological one: destabilizing the institution of monarchy. While Clausewitz’s saying “war is politics through other means” is always true, how much more “political” were these conflicts than other wars?

Additionally, did the political strife of the era affect military strategy? From Napoleon’s own changes to the army to the arrest of the Pope to the bold strategies of Nelson, combatant nations seemed to make some drastic tactical decisions during these conflicts. To what do we owe this? New military technology? Did commanders feel the political pressure themselves? I would be very interested to see if/how generals and admirals considered politics in their wartime decisions.

Lastly, did these conflicts leave a lasting impact in how nations conduct war or is it too much of a stretch to draw a line of causality between then and now?

From what I read, the Iliad is usually dated to 13th to 12th century BC and written down ~8th c. BC. While writing systems such as Linear A and Linear B are several hundred years older and from roughly the same area. So why wasn't the Iliad written down for such a long time?

Hi all.

Long time reader, first time poster.

I'm a little embarrassed asking this as I have a history degree that had a module on the cold War 😅

Did the Stasi openly operate like the Gestapo did? I know GDR had the Volkspolizei (VoPo) for general law enforcement, but did the Stasi make arrests themselves openly or did they rely on the VoPo to do the public things such as arrests and searches etc?

Thanks

I just finished reading ‘China to Me’ by Emily Hahn, some of which covers her time in 1941 Hong Kong during the Japanese attack. A couple of lines in her account go:

‘That evening they (the Japanese) had moved into the Repulse Bay Hotel, but I’m not going to waste much time talking about that. At the present date I can think of five books people have written about the Repulse Bay Hotel, why should I add to it? I wasn’t there.’

But I haven’t been able to find anything specifically related to the Hotel online, nor does she name the books she’s talking about. What exactly happened at the Hotel?